The First Look

I got word as I was finishing up getting dressed that my groom had arrived and was patiently waiting in the limo. We had decided from the start that we would do a "first look" picture as opposed to doing the traditional not see me until I walk down the isle. We did this for a couple of reasons:

1. Ian wanted to see me before the ceremony. Truth be told, I wanted to see him too. We both knew that we would be too nervous not to see each other, after being together for 7 years we have become accustomed to being each others rock's.
2. We wanted to get the family portraits done before the ceremony so that we had lots and lots of time to do pictures after the ceremony.
   

So after I was dressed and helped down the stairs I was told to stand in the front doorway to my parents house and wait for my Prince.


Ian rounded the corner and I honestly can't tell you how I felt because there are no words. It was probably one of the most magical moments of my life to see him for the first time on our wedding day.


I can't really speak for him but the look on his face kind of says it all.


We had a beautiful private moment which was the perfect way to start our marriage.



Ian brought out a letter that I had written him many years ago that he had kept all this time. I nearly started to bawl right then and there.


And to make sure that the moment wasn't too serious...
In my excitement at seeing Ian for the first time I hugged him a little too tightly and got lipstick on his collar! OOOPS! It was a moment that was fitting to us and looking back on it now, this is a hilarious and gorgeous picture!


A side little note: my parents worked endlessly making the yard and garden gorgeous for this day and it's only featured in these pictures. So please make sure you get a good look because it truly looked amazing!

Wedding Morning

The sleep that I got the night before the wedding was pretty pathetic because every time I woke up I would listen to the rain and cringe. Finally I gave up on sleep around 6am, and watched an episode of Beverly Hills Bride on Slice.ca... yea it was better than staring at the ceiling.

After a little more sleep I got up and my day got started.

It started with hair and make-up - there was a schedule that had to be kept and I have to say my girls were totally on the ball. They even arrived with coffee!

Heather getting pretty

Kristy - also getting pretty

last minute DIY - thanks bridesmaids!!!

We had help - she was pretty darn cute, I'm pretty sure she's going for her Mother's coffee here...

Flower girl - see how cute!

Maid of Honour and the other flower girl - she refused to be anywhere else but Momma's lap while she got pretty

AND NOW: The dressing of the bride - I now realize that being the bride is kind of like being an infant, you don't do anything for yourself. That includes dressing and feeding. (There was a sandwich fed to me while I got make-up done, it was ham and cheese and delicious. Thanks Momma!)

The Hair

The posed make-up application shot

This is all pretend haha! I was already fully made up when the photog arrived :)

Pre-getting dressed

The dress is on!

Time to get laced

This took a while

Mom had already laced 4 other dresses and was getting good at it - I needed help bracing myself. Who says that a bride needs to breathe on her wedding day?

Shoes!

Jewelry - Like I said, didn't do ANYTHING for myself...

Bracelet - with the touching addition of a silver heart that belonged from my bestest friend in the whole world.

Almost ready...

Make with the poofing!!

READY!
actually now that I look at this picture - there isn't any jewelry, I thought it was taken after all that... hmmm oh well!

Girls Night

One of the things that I had wanted to do since I started planning my wedding was to have a girls night on my last night as a single woman. Actually what I had really wanted to do was to have a whole girls day with spa treatments, lunch and what not, but that wasn't really in the cards.

What I did manage to organize (which ended up being pretty perfect) was mani-pedi's for the women and dinner at a really great little place down at 5 corners in White Rock.

I arrived at the nail salon with the momma a little bit early because I was getting gel-nails which would take longer than a regular manicure, they turned out so great and I loved them. The nice girl did some really nifty designs with sparkly things and everything. I was about 1/2 way done when the rest of the girls arrived and started in on their nails, we had such a great time chilling and chatting and being girly.

Maid of Honour and Bridesmaid

Bride and Sister of the Groom

Bridesmaid

Officiant

There was one particular colour that was popular with the girls and the name had something to do with weddings or brides or something. I had it on my toes and a couple other girls had it on their hands. If anyone can remember the name of this nail polish I would very much appreciate it.

After we got done with our nails and were all pretty in our disposable flip flops we wondered down to the restaurant for some much needed food and beverages. We had some amazing food and some equally amazing deserts and drinks. We chatted about the wedding and had a lot of fun.

One funny that made me laugh was, I was wearing my "Future Mrs. Paterson" hoody -
- and our waitress walked over to me and asked if I was a big Twilight fan. I looked at her like she was from Mars and said, "Pardon me"? She motioned to my hoody, and I said, "oooooh, no I am getting married tomorrow and Paterson is going to be my new name". She looked mildly embarrassed but that's okay. It kind of made me laugh.

I finished the night hanging out with my parents and brother and went to bed early, well I tried to go to bed early. I probably slept about 2 hours the whole night because I kept waking up listening to the rain but... oh well. I was getting married and I wasn't going to let a silly thing like rain get my down.

Rehearsal Dinner

I know I've been a-wall for a while but I'm very bored so I thought I'd get back to blogging. I will post a "what I've been up to lately" post later but for right now I will get back to the rehearsal dinner.

We had our rehearsal on a Wednesday and I had to go to work, because when we planned our rehearsal I didn't have a job and it seemed like a good idea. Luckily my supervisor was very very understanding and let me off early. So after I left the office and got on a skytrain to meet my parents we high-tailed it to the Serbian Cultural Center. I changed in the basement and then met the rest of the clan.

The lovely Stuart ran our rehearsal and let me tell you I was so happy that he was there because we were all kinds of clueless. I'm also very thankful to my momma because she said that the "walk down the isle" that I had planned was not nearly good enough for me and had a great alternative. I even got to walk through the big grand door that is really really beautiful!!

We all stood nicely (with a few happy stand-in's)

The men

the women

bride and groom :)
- take a good look at my shoes, look familiar?

and learned how things were going to go, in the very specific order of "middle, end, beginning" which worked quite well. I know that sounds like it makes no sense but I promise it did.

After the rehearsing was done we went Crescent Beach for some eating and eat we did. We had the fantastic caterer that was going to be at our wedding, and man can he cook! Dinner was amazing and then there was cake! I love cake. I think everyone knows that by now.

Our delicious cake

Cutting of the cake

One of my favourite moments from the night was during Ian's Dad's very touching speech. He was saying some incredibly nice things about me and Ian when I look up to see two of my bridesmaids having a mild conniption. Knowing that they are not rude in the slightest I took a closure look to see my two year old niece licking the window in the most hilarious way. The whole bridal party also found this hilarious, except for my sister who was really really embarrassed. I still think it's pretty funny.


There was gift-giving and merriment and more cake eating and then it poured with rain. Which was very fitting for what was to come.

The children playing the rain - my sister was so proud!

Bachelorette Fun

Okay!

So after Heather and I madly got ready after the very slow lunch and zipped into Vancouver (well got to Vancouver fast, parking was another story but I won't dwell) it was time for the sillyness to start.

I didn't know anything really about the party except the types of clothes I needed to wear and bring as well as the fact that I needed an overnight bag. So I was quite curious to see what adventures were in front of me.

It started out with a table of my favourite snacks and a drink being handed to me with a rather interesting straw. Next was a game of... some silly dance game for the Wii... I have no idea what it was called. Here are some amuzing pictures of this adventure:



We were waiting for some of the other guests to arrive so in the meantime the first game got going... This is now my favourite game for girlie gatherings, it involves hot dogs, string, tacks and a cup. Trying to describe this game with words would be a big fat waste of time so I will let the photos (and maybe the video if I can get it to work) do the speaking for me.





After our fun with the hot dogs we got started with another game that was sort a pin the tail on the donkey... if you catch my drift. Unfortunately the pics from that game are a bit obscene and not really appropriate for the blog. Sorry...

At that point we got dressed for "out" time and I was presented with a list of things that I needed to do. It was a bunch of silly fun things like find a dead bug and get a guy to buy you a drink. I made it my mission to do these things and I did pretty darn good with my list. There are photos but I'm not sure where they are. Anyone with copies, I'd love some! Drop me an email!!

Next up: Rehearsal Dinner


Happily Married for 39 Days!!

PS

Yesterday was our one month anniversary. We celebrated by going to separate networking events, boy do we know how to party.


Happily Married for 1 month and 1 day

Exciting News

Well, it looks like I've been a really bad blogger. Today I got something in the mail that both made my day and lit a fire under my.... well hopefully you will get the point.

My Wedding Pictures!!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!!!! I will hopefully get some posted up here soon. Right now I'm too busy staring at them and trying to figure out which to print, frame and where to put them!


Happily Married for 1 month and 1 day

Day 2 of Wedding Week

Now that Heather had arrived it was time for the bachelorette party, something I had been looking forward to for a long time. I didn't know anything about the plan except that we would be going downtown Vancouver.

Heather had stayed with me at my parents house the night before because we had gotten in so late and we had planned on spending the whole day together so it just made sense.

The day started early because my sister and her kids were also staying with us (it was a very full house) and they like to get up at the crack of dawn. I introduced Heather to the little ones and of course they took to her right away because there are a lot of things you could call my neices and nephew but shy is not one of them. After introductions were made my dad cooked a breakfast that could feed three armies which was loud and fun, just the way a family breakfast should be in my opinion. After we scarffed down the food Heather and zipped off so I could get my legs waxed - a bride can't be fuzzy!

After we were done I called Ian, (who was now on the mainland) to come meet us for lunch. We had a coupon for ULounge so we decided there was as good a place as any for lunch, plus they had a wicked patio and it was so sunny that a patio was a must. We had so much at lunch chatting and catching up, it was kind of like old times except for the fact that I was days away from marrying Ian rather than seeing him as our sweet little friend.

Lunch was slow. Really really slow. Heather and I needed to go and get ready for the Bachelorette party and it was getting close to crunch time, so we left Ian with the check and dashed off.

I know I promised that the next post would be about the Bachelorette Party itself - but I'm on the ferry and don't have access to the pictures so you will have to wait just a little longer :)



Happily Married for 3 weeks and 3 days!

Wedding week recap

I have finally gotten to uploading some pictures which means that I can start recapping my wedding week! Aren't you proud? - sorry this first post has no pictures but there will be some soon.

So for me the whole "wedding" started on July 8th when my wonderful friend heather flew in from Toronto, her being here meant that the time had finally come and that the wedding was really going to happen.

Her flight was due to land at around midnight and when I got to the airport I hunkered down with a coffee, chocolate bar and my book. Reading didn't really happen because I kept checking the board for her flight info to see if she had landed.

A flight from Calgary landed and I watched as loved ones were re-united, there was a particularly touching scene happening just to my left as a young couple, who had obviously been apart from each other for longer than they cared to be, embraced.

After everyone filed out I continued to watch the flight board like a hawk and it posted that Heather's flight was delayed. So finally when it said that her flight landed I sat right near the door that the Calgary flight came through and waited. And waited and waited and NOTHING. I looked around and I saw a stream of people coming out from some random stairwell. So I went and stood there and waited and still no Heather. I walked around awkwardly for a little while wondering if this was the right flight and pondering getting up on something like a chair to get a better look in case I had missed her (she's quite little you see) but no Heather appeared and I was defiantly in the right place.

FINALLY a slightly harassed looking Heather came down the stairs and I found out that the airport had closed the main way to baggage claim and it was somewhat confusing to figure out where to go. Stupid airport...

Anyway, we finally located her (very large) bag and manhandled it into the car and were on our way home.

My wedding week had officially begun...

Next up BACHELORETTE FUN!


Happily Married for 3 weeks and 1 day :)

Worst Blogger Ever

So I know that I have been probably one of the worst bloggers in history this past month but I can honestly say that it has been a whirlwind!

I am currently collecting pictures from all the various parties and will be posting the wedding week re-caps soon.

To tide people over here is the preview that the photo posted of my bridal portraits.

We Did It!!!

We are offically Mr. and Mrs. Paterson!


More to come :)

I'm getting married in THIS MANY!

Today marks the 10 day mark which means I can now show with my hands how many days until I get married (you know like a little kid does when they tell you how old they are...)

Last of the double digits... in a about an hour it will officially be 9 days.

All in all I have to say that at this point I am much more calm than I expected to be. I honestly thought I would be freaking out about all the things that still have to be done and while there is a relatively substantial list I think we are in pretty good shape. Who knows maybe I'm just delusional?

10 Days!! (In case you didn't already know)

Ticker

For the past 12 months I have been watching this woman creep along and I swear - she has stopped and is now moving backwards!

Just sayin.

2 Weeks or 14 Days or 350 hours

As you can by the new addition on the right I am getting to the point where I am so excited about the upcoming day that I can barely concentrate on anything else.

All of the final details are coming together nicely, well at least they seem to be for me. You'll have to ask Ian for his perspective on things because he is the one taking care of what I consider to be the more challenging aspects of the wedding. He's such a wonderful groom!

There are so many things that I want to blog about but can't. Things like my dress, the music, the decor, and so on I want to be surprises for those who are coming so I will have to keep my lips sealed for another 14 days. Rest assured there are many photos being taken so that eventually I can blog about these things.

One of the things that I should be concentrating on and am having trouble with is my new found employment. That's right I have joined the workforce once again and am currently training to be a financial planner with Freedom 55 Financial. This means taking licensing exams and studying my brains out to make sure that I pass said exams. About a week ago I managed to get through round 1 which was my life insurance license. If you really want to know I can pretty much tell you what type of life insurance or retirement planning is right for you based on... well... I could go into it but I don't want to induce comas. Long story short is that I am currently supposed to be studying for my mutual funds licensing exam which is scheduled for Tuesday evening (well if I'm being really honest I should be sleeping because it's 12:30 am but shhhh). But I'm not, I'm blogging.

One of the things that has also kept me very busy is packing. See one of the things I am required to do for my new job is go to training in Surrey for the week and half prior to my wedding. This worked out fairly well logistics wise but it also means I need to pack up my entire life and bring it to the mainland with me on Tuesday night after I write my mutual funds licensing exam. This is why I've been gathering things in a giant pile decorating my living room and making one massive packing list. I can't forget anything! I will not be coming home again as a "Miss", so if anything gets forgotten, then tough! This would be a problem with things like our wedding rings or the marriage license (which funnily enough are the top two things on said packing checklist).

Here is an idea of how much STUFF is coming with me. Please bear in mind that I am trying (key word here is trying) to be conservative with the packing and this is roughly 1/3 of what is going to be in the final pack job. Oh boy...


Yes I am aware there are lots of shoes, they are indeed necessary. Also the bbq that you are seeing is actually outside on the deck, it is NOT coming with me :)

14 days!

Wedding Gift for me!

As you already know Ian got his wedding present a few months ago when he pushed it out of me that I was going to buy him that amazing leather bag.

Since then he had been asking me what I wanted. I knew that I wanted something that I could have for the rest of our marriage and that I could use now as well as later on. I had a few ideas but none of them made me terribly excited so I kind of put a pin in the problem and figured I'd sort it out later.

Fast forward to the fantastic pre-wedding trip that Ian and I took. While wondering through one of the more expensive hotels we passed a Jimmy Choo store. I looked in longingly and Ian told me to go look around while he did something with his camera. So I walked in and immediately my mouth filled with saliva, it was a challenge not to drool. I love shoes. After wondering for a couple minutes Ian found me and told me to try something on and I refused sticking to the #1 rule of shopping: DON'T TRY IT ON IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT!

I told him this and he wouldn't relent - oh just try something on - oh just do it. Finally I was starting to get a bit annoyed and he said - what about this as a wedding present? I looked at him stupidly and said, "wha?" He repeated himself and I looked at him even more stupidly and said, "are you serious?" He told me he was and I got this giddy feeling in my stomach.

Immediately I started picking shoes to try on and I can honestly say it was almost as much fun as trying on wedding dresses (ALMOST). Ian was SO patient, he followed me around to at least 8 different stores where he watched as I tried on shoe after shoe after shoe. He even gave honest opinions when I asked for them and genuinely seemed interested. Best guy ever, right?!

Some of the stores I got to play in: Barney's Las Vegas, Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, Versace, Louis Vuitton

After 2 straight days of trying on the most fabulous shoes I have ever seen I had it narrowed down to two and decided that I needed to sleep on it before making my final decision. Both of them were at the Manolo Blahnik store in the Wynn so Ian and I headed straight there on the morning we were due to fly out. They didn't open until 10am so we had a quick bite to eat and then high tailed it to the store. There were two other women in the shop, one was a very spoiled and I'm guessing hung over girl who was in jammies and slippers and the other looked to be in her thirties, somewhat spoiled and far more polite. The hung over girl in her slippers was trying to return a pair of shoes and the other woman like me was debating a purchase. We ended up waiting there for at least 1/2 and hour while the ever so patient sales man dealt with the stupid spoiled girl. Finally another sales person arrived and was able to assist me and I made my final decision. Ian brought out the trusty MasterCard while I gazed at my new shoes. I floated the rest of the way home that day.

Anyway here are the shoes that I bought:

Manolo Blahnik "Sedaraby" D'Orsay Pumps

Right after I bought my shoes - I was somewhat giddy

look how pretty!

Pretty, from another angle

Look at them sparkle!!

I wore them for the engagement shoot and made sure the photographer captured them - here are a couple shots that featured how amazing they are:

I also wore them for my convocation at UVic - my mom said I had the best shoes there that day. I agreed with her.
And before you ask - no they are not the shoes that I am going to be wearing on the wedding day. But I do have plans to wear them to the rehearsal.

18 days!!!